Bad Brass Blues

All about them horns

Photo by Chris Bair on Unsplash

Glad to be back

Welcome back to Blue Wednesday! It’s been nearly a month since our last jam session and I’ll go ahead and say I’m loving the slower pace of Blue Wednesday already. Easing up gave me a better chance to find new music outside of the blues genre and savor new blues tunes to bring to you in the future. Slowing down has made listening sweeter and brought me a much needed sense of calm.

In case this is someone’s first blues rodeo, here’s how Blue Wednesday works. I’ll share a few songs of the blues genre and then ask readers to share some of their favorite blues songs with me. Once those songs are shared they’ll be added to the Blue Wednesday playlists on Spotify and YouTube.

This Week

My family recently enjoyed a vacation to Disney World which inspired my theme for this edition of Blue Wednesday: horns. While meandering around the Port Orleans resort, designed to remind one of New Orleans, I literally could not stop dancing as every song playing through the speakers was full of life-giving trumpets, amazing drum solos and the occasional scat-master. Forget trying to enjoy the splash pad, kids. We’re just going to dance around the fake streets to this amazing music. I made a mental note before we left that the upcoming Blue Wednesday post would be dedicated to the horns that make Louisiana blues/ jazz so much fun.

First up this week is a song called “Savoy Blues,” as performed by Lake City Stompers. It was the first song I Shazamed during our trip and I knew immediately it would be featured on today’s post. Check it out!

Spotify offers no information on this group in its bio section and I didn’t do much digging myself. But what I can tell you is that this ensemble creates a wonderful harmony of strings, light percussion and obviously horns. I believe I hear some woodwinds coming in and out as well, but don’t quote me on that one.

What I truly love about this tune is the time-travel is invokes. For me, there is no way to listen to this song without imagining simpler times. Something about this has me imagining a community gathered together to share a day on the river, a picnic in town or a couple of guys and gals gathered for a dance. Is it the lack of electric instruments used to play the song? I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter. It brings joy to my ears and helps me to relax. Cheers to that!

Louis

Obviously, it would ridiculous to suggest a horns-themed blues post without trying to find a tune from the legendary trumpeter Louis Armstrong. It didn’t take long at all to find one I thought everyone might enjoy. Take a listen to “St. Louis Blues,” as performed by Louis Armstrong.

While the trumpeting is unquestionably stellar, one of the more interesting aspects of the songs is the music behind the horn. Around the 1:20 mark, Armstrong is improvising the pattern while the accompanying horns do this interesting repetitive descending note run behind him. It gives the song a really cool dynamic and keeps the ears engaged. Around 2:20 the vocals come in and the woman sings a classic repetitive blues pattern about a man she loves no matter what kind of stunt he might pull. Louis Armstrong eventually comes in with his trademark voice and the song takes off from there. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I have.

Your Turn

There ya have it. I’ve shared my favorite blues tunes for the week and now it’s your turn! Let’s see how much fun we can have with the brass today!

If you have any suggestions for a theme for next month’s Blue Wednesday, shoot me a message. The next Blue Wednesday post will go out July 31. Until then, stay blessed!